In recent years, many efforts have been made to reduce the fat content of various foods, such as salad dressing, sour cream and frozen desserts. A problem encountered when the fat level is reduced in conventional food products is that the organoleptic properties are changed because of the lubricity and slipperiness imparted by the fat particles suspended in the food product is removed.
The term "salad dressing" refers to salad dressing as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Standards of Identity. Salad dressing, as thus defined, is the emulsified food product prepared from an edible vegetable oil, an acidifying ingredient selected from vinegar, lemon juice or lime juice, an egg-yolk containing ingredient and a partially or fully cooked starch paste prepared from a food starch. Salad dressings may also contain optional emulsifying ingredients in addition to egg yolk and cooked starch paste. Such additional emulsifying ingredients which are recognized by the FDA Standards of Identity, include gum acacia, carob bean gum, guar gum, gum karaya, gum tragacanth, carrageenan, pectin, propylene glycol ester of alginic acid, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose or any mixture of two or more of such hydrocolloid emulsifying ingredients. A salad dressing, as defined by the FDA Standards of Identity, contains not less than 30% by weight of vegetable oil and not less egg-yolk containing ingredients than is equivalent to egg yolk solids provided by liquid egg yolk at a level of 4% by weight.
Fat-free salad dressing products have been developed which duplicate the viscosity and other textural attributes of the missing fat by means of suitable food polymers, such as gums (xanthan or alginate), cellulose and its derivatives, starches and various microparticulated polymeric complexes. What is missing in these products is the oiliness (lubricity) and thermal effects in the mouth which are present in the full fat products.
The aqueous matrix of ester vesicles which are provided by the present invention have been shown to have an impact on lubricity in fat-free salad dressing products which can be measured in two ways: decreased frictional coefficient using an instrumental technique and increased time and intensity of slipperiness using trained testers. Other benefits, which have been observed, include: residual oily mouthfeel, decreased product pastiness, modulation of flavor impact, better dispersion of dry ingredients, increased functionality of fat mimetics and decreased product density.
Many efforts have been directed to improving the mouthfeel and lubricity of reduced fat food products. PCT Application WO94/12063 to Bee, for example, is directed to a food product, such as low-fat spreads, dressings, cheese and sauces, which include gas cells prepared from a mixture of emulsifiers having a thermodynamic stability in excess of two weeks and wherein more than 90% of the gas cells have an average particle size of less than 20 microns.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,011 to Heertge, et al. is directed to a spread or dressing which includes a mesomorphic phase. The product contains from 0 to 20 weight percent of fat, from 0.05 to 30 weight percent of a biopolymer, which can be a gum, and from 0.1 to 30 weight percent of an edible surfactant.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a composition which can be used in food products having reduced fat or no fat to enhance the mouthfeel and lubricity.
A further object of the present invention is to provide food products having an enhanced lubricity imparted by incorporating the lubricity enhancing composition of the present invention in the food product.